Basma Khalfaoui

Basma Khalfaoui (Arabic: بسمة خلفاوي‎) (born El Kef 20 August 1970),[1][2] is a Tunisian lawyer, political activist and long-time advocate for the women’s movement who rose to national prominence following the assassination of her husband Chokri Belaid in 2013.[3]

Basma Khalfaoui

Early life

Basma Khalfaoui was one of six children born to a father who died when she was very young and an uneducated mother who raised the family alone with very modest means. After finishing school at the fr:Lycée de la rue du Pacha in Tunis she studied law at university. Here she became an activist in the fr:Union générale des étudiants de Tunisie and joined the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women in 1995.[2][1] At university she met Chokri Belaid in 1999, with whom she went to Paris for postgraduate studies. The couple married in Paris in 2002 before returning to Tunisia and beginning their careers as lawyers. She practised civil and property law.[1]

Campaign for justice

On 6 February 2013 her husband was assassinated by Salafist extremists in front of their home in Tunis.[4][5] Identifying his killers, bringing them to justice, and exposing the alleged political cover-up which has protected them has been the main purpose of her work since that date.[6][7][8]

In 2017 Khalfaoui described her husband’s murder as a ‘state crime’.[9] In 2018 her office was broken into and documents relating to her husband’s case were damaged.[10] Later she publicly called for the dissolution of the Ennahda Party, which she accused of trafficking weapons into Tunisia.[11]

Politics

She had long disclaimed any political ambition and had refused to stand in the 2014 Tunisian parliamentary election, despite having joined in 2012 the Watad Party where her late husband had been Secretary General.[12][13] Nevertheless on 21 April 2019 she announced her intention to stand in the forthcoming elections to the Tunisian Assembly.[14] She was placed in the top-ranking position on the electoral list of the Social Democratic Union in the Tunis 1 constituency.[15]

Family

Basma Khalfaoui has two daughters by Chokri Belaid, named Nayrouz and Nada.[1][1]

gollark: How big are they again?
gollark: I'm going to find 8, and replace 7 with it.
gollark: Yes, I'm aware.
gollark: ```python>>> cast(id(7), POINTER(c_int64))<__main__.LP_c_long object at 0x7f54aa79f8c0>```MUAHAHAHAHAHA.
gollark: Aha, I can use `id`.

References
  1. Auffrey, Elodie (14 March 2013). "Basma Khalfaoui, Veuve en Guerre". Liberation. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  2. Dahmani, Frida (5 March 2013). "Basma Khalfaoui, une icône tunisienne est née". Jeune Afrique. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  3. Levitin, Michael (3 April 2013). "Exclusive: Interview With The Widow of Tunisia's Slain Popular Leader". occupy.com. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  4. "Four Radicals Held over Belaid's Murder". The Majalla. 27 February 2013. Archived from the original on 21 July 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  5. "Tunisia opposition figures 'shot by same gun'". Al Jazeera English. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  6. "Basma Khalfaoui chez BCE". Realities.com.tn. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  7. "Basma Khalfaoui : 4 ans sans que la vérité ne soit dévoilée, c'est trop !". Business News. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  8. "Basma Khalfaoui menace de faire un sit-in avec ses deux filles devant le MI". L'Economiste Maghrébin. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  9. "Family of slain Tunisian politician demands 'truth'". The Daily Star. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  10. "Des inconnus saccagent le bureau Basma khalfaoui". mosaiquefm.net. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  11. "Basma Khalfaoui appelle à la dissolution du mouvement Ennahdha". Espacemanager.com. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  12. Dahmani, Frida (20 January 2015). "Tunisie : Basma Khalfaoui, à la mémoire de Chokri Belaïd". Jeune Afrique. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  13. "Conferència de Basma Khalfaoui, activista de drets humans a Tunísia i vídua de l'opositor polític assassinat Shokri Belaid". Iemed.org. Institut Europeu de la Mediterrania. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  14. "Basma Khalfaoui : Je me présenterai aux législatives". Business News. 21 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  15. M, L. "Tunisie – Besma Bélaïd concurrente de Ghannouchi à Tunis 1 à la tête de la liste de l'Union Démocratique et Sociale". tunisienumerique.com. tunisienumerique.com. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
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